


That was Then

by GirlKnownSomewhere



Category: The Monkees (Band), The Monkees (TV)
Genre: 1990s, Band Fic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, F/M, Ficlet, Flirting, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kissing, Making Out, Older Man/Younger Woman, One Shot, Reunions, Romance, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22835185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlKnownSomewhere/pseuds/GirlKnownSomewhere
Summary: Northern California local Julianna tags along with her older boyfriend Peter to the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood where his famous band is honored platinum records
Relationships: Mike Nesmith/Victoria Kennedy, Peter Tork/OFC
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	That was Then

**Author's Note:**

> So this happened, lol. A good friend of mine on Tumblr who is a fan of my fics had been hinting to me for a while that she's been wanting to read a 1990s set Monkee fanfic. This one-shot is largely based on a video on YouTube that's about 40 minutes of candid personal footage of the Hard Rock Cafe event honoring the group in 1995. In it you can see a young woman supposedly named 'Juliana' with Peter for a lot of event (I think they might have been dating because you can actually see him kiss her at one point). Since we basically know nothing about Juliana, I took her first name and general appearance, and created an OFC, heh. Oh, and I made up some things on Victoria since there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on her on the internet (and I still haven't read Mike's memoir 👀). I'm also posting this ficlet as a birthday present to said friend, which is coincidentally the same day Peter died. So happy birthday, Morgan and RIP Peter! 💝💖
> 
> Note: here's the event footage if anyone's curious on what I'm referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C46dvSWFvWc&t=1408s
> 
> P.S. Yes, I am aware the name Julianna is ironic while Mike also has a song called 'Juliana,' lol
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Monkees' or other celebrities featured's likenesses. (I kind of, sort of own Julianna, lol)

One-shot: That was Then

LA, January 1995

“Juli…Jules?”

A young woman deep asleep in bed could faintly hear her common nicknames spoken from far away. She felt a hand softly cup her cheek that wasn’t placed on the pillow and slowly opened her eyes to a blurry vision of a light haired, middle-aged man slightly above her. He smiled pleasantly and raised his hand to let go of her cheek after subtly grazing it.

“I hate to disturb the slumber, but you slept through the alarm,” he revealed easily.

She looked at the clock on the bedside table to find it was 5:20 AM. ‘She’ being Julianna, 28-year-old northern Californian, opposite her older boyfriend Peter squatting next to the bed. “Sorry…guess that sleeping pill was stronger than I anticipated.”

“I warned you,” he teased light-heartedly.

“Yeah…” She said lazily as she slowly sat up. She became aware of the fact that he was already dressed, currently in a black turtleneck and matching black pants. “Oh…”

He shook his head a bit. “You’re fine. This is why we got up three hours before the flight,” he reminded.

Julianna nodded and ran a hand through her long, brown curly hair before standing in a loose, long sleeved T-shirt. “Hey, we both chose to party last night,” he reassured.

“As much partying you can do without drinking” she let out without thinking then instantly regretted referencing his sobriety. “I meant—”

“You know I don’t care if you drink around me,” Peter casually claimed.

“No, I really don’t mind,” she insisted. “I don’t want to be inconsiderate.”

He pulled her into a hug and kissed the side of her head. “I don’t know why you’re so nervous about today. All of the attention’s going to be on me.” He changed the subject, knowing the real source of her current anxiety.

“I just feel so out of my league…even your bandmates’ girlfriends are used to this by now,” she mentioned in distress.

Peter pulled back slightly to look at her. “And so will you once you see it’s just like any other public event,” he said optimistically. “It’ll be like how we first met.”

Julianna raised an eyebrow at that. “There weren’t that many photographers at that show.”

“But none of the cameras are going to be on you, so you can just sit back and have a good time,” he countered.

She sighed again and rubbed her eye of leftover sleep. 

“Or you can always stay home and see me again later tonight,” he considered for her. “That option is still available.”

She then felt a tinge of guilt hit her at her current behavior. “No, it’s okay. I really do want to be there to support you. I’m just being ridiculous.”

He rubbed her shoulder quickly before moving aside to grab a carry-on bag he already packed while Julianna walked to the door. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

At that, Peter hopped behind her and instantly wrapped an arm around her waist. “Want some assistance in there?” He asked into her neck.

She let out a content breath and grinned. “You’re already dressed. Plus we don’t have enough time,” she pointed out, though still let her head land on his shoulder. After a couple seconds, he gave her waist a squeeze and kissed her neck before heading back into the bedroom. Julianna closed the bathroom door before lifting her shirt from her body and turning on the shower water. As she bathed, she tried not to distract herself too much with the fact that she was now, finally going to have to acknowledge that she was involved with a famous musician. And that they were about to be gathering with his mega successful former band the Monkees, and a whole room full of press reporters and photographers in Hollywood. When Julianna originally started dating Peter thirteen months ago, she was aware of his celebrity status pretty fast. But fortunately pop had never been a favorite music genre of hers, so there wasn’t much potential of her being starstruck to possibly taint the relationship. On top of that, despite his history, Peter lived rather modestly in a basic two story house on the edge of the city, compared to average stars. She found that they had quite a bit in common with similar interests and opinions, whether with him sharing the same literary favorites as her or her enjoying some of the same types of music he did. (It was also through Peter that Julianna discovered the Monkees were a lot more than just pop musically). And while she was a Bay Area native, he had become accustomed to being a local after living in the region on-and-off for two decades.

The only thing that still lingered in the back of her mind occasionally, besides Peter being a former pop-rockstar, was the prominent age difference between them. In private, it never seemed to matter and the two of them could just comfortably be themselves. But sometimes it did reflect when they were in social settings, especially with people they knew. Julianna never imagined herself dating an older man, especially one already middle-aged, but sometimes your love life doesn’t exactly go as planned. It helped that his natural boyish personality continued to compliment him as he aged. She also thought it was fortunate they met six years after she graduated college and had some legitimate life experience under her belt. Unlike a couple of her past school friends who had become involved with men who turned out to be immature or secretly married. But above all of this, she found that they cared and wanted to be with each other, which trumped any other issues. 

After Julianna turned off the shower and dried herself, she brushed her teeth and put on a long-sleeved, short black dress with white polka dots, black tights and a pair of Doc Martens. She let her hair air dry rather than use the blow dryer. Partly because she didn’t want to stress about oversleeping, and also because they were going to be sitting on a plane for an hour anyway. She chose to go minimal with her make-up of only mascara and a rosy lipstick. As she left the bathroom to grab her jacket for the early January weather, she noticed Peter set his bag next to the front door and smile when he saw her.

“Ah, you look lovely,” he said before kissing her forehead. She offered a small smile to show some appreciation. 

“It’s too bad Hallie and Ivan can’t come,” she commented.

He didn’t react particularly at the reference to his kids. “Happens sometimes since they don’t live near LA and have to work.” She just nodded in return and went to grab her mini-backpack from the living room.

The couple rode to the airport idly, choosing to call a taxi than drive either of their cars. Julianna already wore her sunglasses in the early morning and Peter casually looked out the window. He had his hand on her knee supportively. “Alright, so what are you most nervous about?” He eventually broke the silence with and slightly squeezed her leg.

“Oh…I don’t know…” Julianna started, not expecting a specific question. “There is that cliché of celebrities dating younger women…”

He shrugged. “Won’t be any more awkward than Mike and Victoria.”

She tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear, not convinced. “I’ll take your word for that since I don’t know either of them.”

He turned his body slightly to face her more. “If that’s it, I guarantee you everyone in LA is used to seeing age gaps,” he said lightly to reassure her.

“Well…this is also the first time I’m going to be witnessing the stardom aspect of your life,” she continued. “I don’t want to come across badly for you…”

He made a noise between a chuckle and a snort. “That’s not possible. You’re far too sweet. Our image is already pretty goofy anyway.”

“Yeah…” Julianna lingered absent-mindedly. Sensing that her mind was still racing, Peter placed her sunglasses on top of her head which grabbed her attention. His hand then landed on her cheek before softly moving her to face him and kissed her lips. The action made her instantly relax and lean in to embrace him as he opened his mouth a bit. The kissing lasted about a minute when she felt the car stop and she leaned back toward the door. He gave her a peck on the lips before leaving the vehicle, with Julianna following suite after resetting her sunglasses and checking her lipstick. The tiny make-out moment seemed to work as she spent most of the brief flight contently reading her copy of Michael Crichton’s **The Andromeda Strain**.

“Well, I think you’ll like this one,” she suddenly commented, closing the book after marking her page. “It’s more character driven than **Jurassic Park**.”

Peter set down the local newspaper he was reading next to her and glanced with a smile. “Thanks, babe.”

Right then a flight attendant walked by offering drinks, with Julianna ordering tea and Peter coffee. Though, the younger woman did pass the musician a look of disapproval. She’d been trying for a while to convert him to tea, arguing with legitimate statistics that caffeine could be just as addictive as alcohol. But he would usually just kid or act nonchalant like it wasn’t an issue.

“Hey, I ordered decaf!” He argued in an optimistic tone.

She shook her head, but with a smirk to show she wasn’t too upset. The pair evidently arrived at the Rhino Records offices around 10:45 AM, after hopping into a town car scheduled to pick them up from the airport. Julianna’s stomach did a small flip as they entered the building, now back to feeling self-conscious. She felt Peter squeeze her hand, though she wasn’t sure if he could sense her tension or not. They followed two men into the elevator who informed them of where they were supposed to be heading.

“We just have to do a quick interview here before the ceremony,” Peter informed.

“Oh, cool,” Julianna said simply.

Following the elevator ride to the third floor, Peter led her to a room at the end of the hall that was occupied with people. 

“I’ll be right back,” he said before leaving the room. Julianna then looked around to gather her surroundings. She saw a couple of men, whom she assumed were PR people, as well as three women. Two of whom looked to be either early or late 40s. Julianna then noticed the third woman, exceptionally beautiful, walking up to her.

“Hi. I’m Victoria,” she said with a friendly smile. Julianna nodded with her own smile rather than a verbal response. “Mike’s fiancée,” the former added for clarification and pointed to the hall, where Julianna found a man with greying hair, jeans, a red buttoned shirt and a red baseball hat. 

“Ah…” She then tried to subtly look at Victoria’s appearance of a navy blue dress suit and shoulder-length, dark brown, straight hair. There was another pause. “Oh, I’m Julianna,” she said realizing she hadn’t introduced herself. “I…came with Peter.”

“Yeah, his girlfriend, right?” Victoria added like it was no big deal. 

Julianna wasn’t expecting her to know her affiliation already and gave another pause. “Oh…yes.”

Victoria didn’t seem to notice the other young woman’s reaction and carried on with introducing the rest of the room. “That’s Anita, Davy’s wife,” she pointed to a woman with black, bushy hair. “And that’s Coco, Micky’s sister,” she finished naming with a short, curly haired woman. Anita was in jeans and a T-shirt and Coco in a flowy, long-sleeved dress.

Julianna nodded at each intro plainly and then looked back to across the hall. She found Peter with the ‘Mike’ Victoria referred to and two other men she figured were Micky and Davy. All of them were wearing black except for Mike.

“I guess Mike missed the memo on the black clothes,” Julianna noted.

“Oh, you know, he likes to be the outlier in crowds,” Victoria said as if a reminder.

Julianna looked back to her. “Ah…well, this is my first time meeting you guys, so—”

“Hey, looks like you two got acquainted already. Great.” Suddenly Peter was in front of them, and Victoria used him as an excuse to step aside toward Mike.

“Is this like a girlfriend room or something?” Julianna randomly burst out.

The former popstar guffawed. “It’s a lobby.”

“Yeah, but the other women here…”

He loosely tossed a piece of her long, curly hair over her shoulder. “It’s just for you guys to hang out while we’re being interviewed. Maybe you and Victoria have something in common.” 

She then glanced to the other couple and tried to read their body language quickly. Mike definitely looked a couple decades older than the pretty brunette, but Victoria also had the kind of mature presence that made it difficult to estimate her age. Then Julianna wondered how they even got together in the first place. From the brief history run she got from Peter on the band, she might have seen the appeal of Mike visually in his youth, but he currently looked like a typical suburban dad.

“How old is she?” Julianna suddenly asked.

“Not sure. Under 30, over 25?”

The vague answer was enough to convince her that they were roughly the same age difference as her and Peter. At least with Peter he still had his natural hair color, and for someone who struggled with drugs and alcohol for a decade, he was aging shockingly well. 

A man then appeared in the hall and motioned to him to return to the group. Peter grabbed Julianna’s hand to give it a squeeze.

“See you in a few minutes.”

“’kay—Oh, wait, let me take your jacket,” she offered as she noticed he was holding it on his arm.

“You really are too good for me,” he claimed as he handed it to her.

She snorted in return. He touched her upper arm lightly before heading back to his occasional bandmates. Victoria walked back over to Julianna after kissing Mike’s cheek. 

“Another day on the job,” she said merrily. “I never get used to all these reporters and I’m not even the one in front of them.”

“I can imagine…this is actually my first time attending one of their band events,” Julianna revealed. “Peter’s more like a local musician at home.”

“Oh, this is only my second Monkees event too,” Victoria corrected which reminded the curly-haired woman that the tall guitarist usually was absent from reunions and today was a rarity. “But, you know, even at the all the other showbiz parties Mike goes to it’s glamorama.”

Julianna nodded then did the math in her head on the last time Peter said he reunited with all four band members, which was roughly half a decade ago. “So you and Mike have been together for a while then?”

“Oh yeah, we met seven years ago.”

“Huh…”

The two young women chose to linger by the room entrance to get a look at the interview being conducted rather sporadically. They watched the men answer the usual stock questions with how flattered they were to be accepting platinum records for the first five Monkees albums, memories on the band’s prime days, how it felt to be reunited again—the last Julianna noticed all four musicians hesitate before replying. When one of the reporters asked if there was going to be another live concert with the whole group soon, the three other Monkees looked genuinely surprised when Micky said: “I hope so.” Throughout the ten minutes, Julianna and Victoria would quietly comment to each other, during which the former discovered Victoria was two years younger than her.

When she heard the photo cameras not clicking and the reporters tell the TV cameramen to stop shooting, Julianna stepped over to Peter to hand his stuff back to him. He then introduced her to Henry Diltz and Harold Bronson, both of whom were standing next to the group. Harold was one of the founders of Rhino and going to be officiating the ceremony at the Hard Rock Café in an hour. Henry described himself as a ‘good friend’ of the guys, to which Peter immediately chuckled and informed Julianna that Henry has taken more professional photos of the band than anyone else. As they made their way outside of the building, Henry strolled a few feet ahead of the couple while Harold was behind them. When they made it to the front steps of the building, Julianna leaned closer into Peter and grabbed his hand for his attention. 

“Victoria was 19 when she met Mike,” she whispered cautiously.

“Really?” He replied with a natural mix of shock and amusement. “Fooled me.”

She just kept an arched brow at the revelation as they walked.

“Told you it could be worse,” he teased as a reminder of his previous claim.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Julianna felt him let go of her hand and move to where the rest of the band was next to a couple of TV cameras. She stood by next to Harold as the four men did an impromptu ‘Monkee walk’ for the cameras; with Micky and Davy shouting some goofy, self-aware jabs about how they’re too old to remember how to do it. Mike then immediately dashed into the limousine parked on the street, with the former two following. Julianna then realized none of the other women from before were outside, and that she and Harold were the only ones left with the band. 

“…Oh, was I supposed to get in a different car?” She asked confused.

“Yeah. Looks like you missed the ladies’ ride though,” Peter pointed out. “Unless you want the whole red carpet treatment with us,” he playfully considered.

She let out a frustrated breath.

“Don’t worry about it. Just hop into Harold’s car. We’re all going to the same place anyway,” Peter reassured. “It’s alright if Juli goes with you, right, Harold?”

“Yeah, no problem,” the other man insisted coolly.

“Well…thanks. I appreciate that,” the brunette said in slight relief. Peter then moved up to her, grabbed her hand to pull her forward and kissed the side of her mouth. Once again making the anxiety momentarily disappear. 

“See you in a bit,” he ended before hopping into the limo.

After a quick 10 minute drive over to the famous restaurant—which made Julianna realize the ceremony happening on a Thursday instead of the weekend was probably because of the infamous LA traffic—the young woman and record executive walked out of the parking structure and into the café. She didn’t see the famous music group anywhere in the large room full of people, but Harold pointed to a corner where the family and friends were stationed. She nodded and headed over to the table. She spotted two men, who looked around her age and possibly brothers, each with really long hair in a ponytail. Then next to them were four young women. One with short dark hair, whom Julianna couldn’t quite tell was goth or just liked wearing black clothes. A blonde who looked almost like she was dressed up as Annie Hall with a white blouse, suspenders, black pants and a bowler hat. The other two young women, she assumed were sisters since they both had matching wide-eyes and brownish hair. There was also a third young man wearing sunglasses, a leather jacket and looking rather ‘hip’ compared to the rest of the group. And finally at the end, Julianna found Victoria, Anita and Coco again. Victoria waved to her as she stopped walking. The NorCal native kept her sunglasses on presently, not to act cool, but mostly as an attempt to be discreet in the unfamiliar territory.

“Hey again!” Victoria greeted happily.

“Hi,” she replied neutrally and tried not to feel out of place once more.

“You want a drink?” 

Julianna turned around and found the petite, darkly dressed woman in front of her. “Oh, sure.”

“We’ve got water and sodas currently. They’re not serving alcohol yet,” she explained.

“Okay, thanks…um, I’ll just start with water,” Julianna answered.

The woman grabbed a glass cup from another table behind them and casually handed it to her. “My name’s Jessica, by the way. Mike’s daughter. You’re with Peter, right?”

Julianna froze mid-nod at another stranger already aware of who she was. “Yeah…how did you know that?”

“Jules, Peter’s squeeze,” she suddenly heard behind her and turned her head to see the tallest member of the band. “Am I right?” He asked with an amused look at her surprised expression.

“Yes…” She verified. “Julianna, actually. But you can call me ‘Jules,’ or ‘Juli,’ if you want,” she informed, but then felt like her words were lost on the crowd as Victoria skipped up to Mike and wrapped her arm around his hip. 

“There’s a guest list,” Mike mentioned as if it was supposed to be an explanation for how he and Jessica had known who she was. The latter of whom Julianna now realized had disappeared during the brief exchange. “Peter’s looking for you, by the way,” he added as he and Victoria left the corner. Julianna found her boyfriend walking toward them, with him smiling when he found her in the crowd waiting. 

“Hey. You competing with Jason for a Terminator contest?” He asked jokingly.

The younger woman looked puzzled. “What?”

“You’re still wearing your shades inside,” he notified.

She then placed her sunglasses on top of her head lazily in realization. “Who’s Jason?”

Peter then turned her around and pointed to the hip young man she noticed earlier. “Jason is Mike’s son,” he informed while leisurely landing his forearm on her shoulder. “That’s Christian and Jonathan, Mike’s oldest sons,” he continued pointing around the room. “And those three ladies are Davy’s daughters Talia and Sarah, and Micky’s daughter Ami. Looked like you were just talking to Jessica.”

“Yeah…” She said turning around in his arm. “Mike’s family already seems to know all about me,” she commented plainly.

He smirked coyly as he let his arm drop by his hip. “Was I supposed to keep you a secret?”

“Well, no…but you also said you and he haven’t been close in a long time,” she reminded, which didn’t faze him.

“We still work together occasionally—hence the party today,” he added with a wave at the room.

“…I guess I’m just a little surprised since I didn’t know any of them until right now,” she concluded.

He nodded after a small pause, understanding her meaning. “That one’s on me,” he said with an apologetic smile. She smiled back and sporadically ran her hand through his hair before lightly letting her arms rest on his shoulders, meant to show that she was fine and not upset.

“Having fun?” She asked pleasantly.

He gave a half-laugh/half-snort sound. “This is more like work than fun,” he claimed.

She then formed her own smirk. “Yeah, must suck having to pose for photographers while being honored a few awards.”

“Aww, you two are so cute!” 

Julianna suddenly heard Victoria next to her again and lowered her arms, though Peter kept his hands on her waist. The other woman had a big smile on her face as if her reaction had been nothing. Another pause drifted before Peter gave Julianna a quick squeeze and told her he’d find her again soon and then left the corner.

The two ladies stood near each other silently again. Julianna then grabbed her glass and took a sip. “Do you smoke?” She randomly asked.

“Not really,” Victoria replied nonchalantly.

“…You want to stand by the door with me?” She asked again a little awkwardly.

Five minutes later, Julianna was by the front door entrance with her sunglasses back on and a cigarette in her right hand. Victoria was leaning next to her on the wall holding a can of diet Pepsi. Julianna had never been a committed smoker, fortunately. She’d never even smoked at home, but it was one of her worst public habits once in a while to smoke when she was a bit inebriated or nervous. For the past year, she’d done a pretty good job of cutting it down, not only because she knew she’d have to give it up eventually for health reasons anyways. But because she knew Peter was a former smoker and she didn’t want to make it awkward or be insensitive. She’d only given into temptation twice when he wasn’t around so far, and well…looked like this is going to be the third.

After taking a lenient drag, Julianna continued gazing around the large room while the band was MIA again. She noticed two blonde, middle-aged women walk up to the family corner and greet the offspring. 

“Who are the two blondes?” Julianna asked pointing with her cigarette.

Victoria looked up while taking a drink of her Pepsi. “Oh, that’s Samantha and Nurit. Sam’s Micky’s first wife and Ami’s mom. She’s usually at things like this with Ami. Nurit is Jason’s mom.”

Julianna nodded, though was paused mentally. She didn’t realize Mike had kids with more than one woman. “Mike’s second wife?”

That got a genuine, surprised laugh out of Victoria. “Um, no. She’s…just someone Mike used to be familiar with.”

“Oh…” Julianna muttered. “So Jessica and her brothers…?”

“Their mom is his first wife, Phyllis. She’s never at these events.”

“Ah…They seem nice,” she tried to lighten the mood when she looked back to the two older women mingling with the famous offspring.

Victoria shrugged. “I mean, I’ve never really talked to her. Sam’s fine though. Not that I’ve spent any more time with her either.”

Just then a shorter, rather awkward man popped up in front of them with a grin. His suit was clearly untailored, and his hair style looked like it was stuck in the early 1980s.

“Hi, Victoria…”

“Hi, Rodney,” she responded with a not completely genuine smile.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked suddenly looking at Julianna interested.

“Peter’s girlfriend,” she said simply and took another sip from her can.

“Oh,” he gave Julianna a slightly hesitant wave, which she responded with a slightly uncomfortable grin, not sure where this strange interaction was going. “I didn’t know Peter had a new girlfriend…”

“It’s been a while since the last reunion,” Victoria continued plainly.

“Yeah…So, what are you and Mike doin—”

“We’re only in town today for the ceremony,” she quickly cut him off with.

“Oh, okay…talk to you later,” he parted. “Nice to meet you,” he added to Julianna, who just waved in return.

The less familiar woman took another drag before asking once Rodney was out of sight, “What was that about?”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Ugh, he’s like this famous fanboy who grew up in LA and found ways to meet all the celebrities around town. He’s only associated with the Monkees because he was Davy’s double on one of their TV episodes. Now he’s always the first to show up at their parties or reunions. He’s got all the symptoms of social awkwardness and dysfunctional upbringing, but without any charisma.”

Julianna let out a tiny cloud of smoke toward the door entrance. “How’s he getting inside the clubs if they’re VIP? The rest of the fans are outside.”

“Oh, he’s technically a celebrity himself. He ran a popular nightclub on the Strip in the ‘70s, and that’s how he kept himself acquainted with all the stars,” she revealed. “He works at a radio station or something now. Mike said it wasn’t a surprise when he opened the club, because no one could ever figure out before exactly what he did for work to afford to keep partying so much.”

“Oh…how convenient,” Julianna said loosely. “He seemed to like you, though.”

Victoria’s eyes rolled back again. “He likes anything with long hair and a skirt. The only girls who show interest in him are drop-outs looking for an easy pass backstage.”

“Ah…” She drifted again and tipped her cigarette ash into a nearby trash can.

“So what do you do for a living?” Victoria suddenly asked running a hand passively through her hair.

“Oh, um,” she began at the unexpected question. “I work at…the library.” Julianna loved her job normally, but right now she internally cringed and assumed it must have sounded like the most ordinary occupation in the world compared to everyone else in the room.

“Oh, that’s neat! It must be nice to be able to have a regular life, even after meeting Peter,” she cheerfully suggested.

“Peter’s life is pretty normal…now,” Julianna stressed once again.

Victoria leaned her side on the wall to face the literary worker a little more. “Yeah, I’m thinking of switching my day gig for a more every-day type career.”

“Oh, really? What do you have in mind?” 

“I’m applying for law school,” she casually answered. 

Julianna looked a little surprised, as that wasn’t the response she was anticipating from their brief familiarity with each other. Though she was impressed at Victoria’s high standards. “Wow, that’s interesting.”

“Yeah, I have a college degree, but I’m not really doing anything with it. Might as well not let it go to waste,” she leisurely continued. “Plus Mike said this could make it easier for us to work together like with his PR team or Pacific Arts.”

“Pacific Arts?”

“Mike’s production company.”

“Ah, right…What do you do currently?”

“Oh, I model,” she replied as if it was any other average job.

Julianna nodded for a moment as an acknowledgement for lack of a better reaction before Victoria continued. “That’s actually how Mike and I met. I was doing a shoot in the same studio when he was posing for a cover interview. How did you meet Peter?”

“Oh…well, I volunteer at the local community center every other weekend, and his band was playing a show there one weekend. I was an usher, and we started talking by the end of the night…” 

“Aww,” Victoria gushed. “That does sound like Peter. He seems like a big flirt. In a good way, of course.”

“Well, he didn’t ask me out the day we met. It was more like we wanted to continue our conversation…so we met at the park the next day and hung out for most of the afternoon…Then we eventually went on a date,” she concluded with a smile forming at the memory.

Victoria took another sip of Pepsi. “Do you ever talk to his kids?”

Julianna momentarily froze at the abrupt question. “Um…I’ve met his son a couple of times, but I’ve only spoken to his daughter once on the phone…and that was still mostly Peter talking.”

Victoria leaned forward. “I don’t think Mike’s daughter likes me.”

Julianna figured that might be because the two women looked close in age, but she had no idea how to respond to the statement without saying that. “Oh…well, you know…um, that could be…uh, you know…”

“Anyways, I thought maybe you might’ve had a similar issue or something,” she carried on a little disappointed.

“Oh…well, I think it helps we’re all adults and have our own lives, so it’s not really a problem...currently,” then she added reassuringly: “I doubt Jessica has something against you.”

“You’re right. She just happens to leave the room or make excuses to not meet up whenever we’re in the city,” Victoria replied with clear sarcasm.

Julianna took another, long drag before continuing. “You know…I’m still getting used to the fact that I’m only four years older than Hallie…if it helps.”

She shrugged. “I’m three years younger than Christian.”

Julianna tried not to cringe at the casual statistic Victoria revealed, which she assumed was out of carelessness; or just that the model had already become used to the dysfunction this far into her relationship with Mike. As the librarian was now reminded for the second time her relationship status could be worse; she looked up absent-mindedly to find that the four famous men had returned from the back of the club to the center. Peter started making his way to their side of the restaurant. Julianna instantly panicked.

“Shit,” she said as she threw the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it before kicking it onto the sidewalk. She then quickly placed her sunglasses back on top of her head and grabbed Victoria’s soda can. “Sorry, can I borrow this for a second,” she rhetorically asked before rapidly gulping down the rest of the liquid. Peter stopped his route to her right when she tossed the empty can into the trash.

“Hey,” he greeted with a smile. “Having a good time?”

“Yeah, of course,” she attempted coolly while running a hand through her hair. “Good interview?”

“It was a photo op,” he corrected with an amused grin.

“Oh, right,” she said and leaned back to the wall with her arms casually crossed.

“Hi, Vicky,” he acknowledged the second woman.

“Hey, Pete. Your girlfriend’s cute,” she returned with a teasing smirk.

“Yeah, she is,” he agreed before gently grabbing Julianna’s hand. The brunette lightly rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, feeling a tinge of relief. That was until he looked toward her with an expression that reminded her of a cat sniffing an open can of tuna.

“…Did you just smoke a cigarette?”

“…No…”

“Why does it smell like cigarette smoke?” He asked with a more mischievous tone.

“…We’re in LA?” She attempted.

He turned to the model. “I didn’t know you smoked, Victoria.”

“I don’t,” she confirmed amusedly.

Julianna stood straight-faced and held her breath as the exchange occurred.

“Hm…” Peter stalled while a silence formed between the current trio. Julianna just continued looking at him as the side of his mouth smirked for a split second before he pulled her forward. She was caught off guard for a moment until he suddenly kissed her, and her hands naturally rested on his upper arms. She wasn’t expecting him to turn it into an open mouth kiss either, but reciprocated genuinely anyway. One because he was a pretty good kisser in general, and second because it made her forget where she was momentarily. When he separated, she kept her eyes closed for a few seconds to regain her senses. While she opened them again, she discovered a look on his face as if he found an answer to something. It then hit Julianna that he might have been testing to see if her mouth tasted like tobacco, but it appeared more for his own amusement than anything else.

Peter gave her an extra peck on the lips before letting go of her mid-region and turning back to Victoria. “Harold’s about to do his speech in a few minutes if you two want to head back to the booth,” he suggested. She nodded without verbal response, clearly surprised at the intimate moment that just occurred. Julianna stayed stunned and hoped her heart would slow down soon. She then cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Victoria.

“You guys look fun…”

****

While Harold and the Monkees stepped onto the stage in the middle of the restaurant, Julianna and Victoria took a couple of seats in the booth next to the full-grown kids. The intro and acceptance speeches weren’t that different to the few televised award shows Julianna had caught on TV in the past. The main differences were that this was a more private setting and she was living with one of the men on the stage. When Harold mentioned that the Monkees have sold as many albums as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, Julianna had to hold in a laugh because when she was the age of their original demo, she was hearing ‘Physical Graffiti’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ around her family’s house rather than ‘More of the Monkees.’ Then one of the photographers yelled “happy birthday, Mike!” to which he pointed to Davy. This perplexed Julianna until Victoria noticed and informed her that Mike’s and Davy’s birthdays were on the same day a week ago. Julianna also noticed Peter and Mike whispering to each other occasionally, which she found intriguing. Micky and Davy then moved forward to speak on behalf of the band, and thank the Recording Industry Association, the label and the café for honoring them with the platinum records. She vaguely recognized names like ‘Bobby Hart’ and ‘Chip Douglas,’ and was almost mystified to hear Carole King and Harry Nilsson name-dropped, as she still thought it was crazy two big artists like them started their careers writing for the Monkees.

The group then spent a few minutes posing with the records, plus Harold and some HRC employees for a couple shots. Julianna heard a clicking sound and turned to find Henry had left the front row of photographers, and was now in front of her and Victoria. The model gave her a small nudge and smiled at the camera, cueing her to follow her lead. After Henry took a quick picture of the two women, Julianna noticed the band was making their way to the corner, so she and Victoria stood up to greet them. As she stepped around the table, Julianna could hear Davy mumble about ‘another goth bird.’ She crinkled her nose in pondering when Peter stopped by her.

“Who was Davy talking about?”

Peter chuckled. “I think he was referring to you, Jules.”

She stood expressionless at his response for a moment. “I’m not goth though…”

“You are wearing black,” he pointed out.

“So are you. And goths don’t wear polka dots,” she informed with her own amusement.

He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe he’s finally out of touch with that ‘younger generation’ we used to sing about.”

“I guess,” she lazily replied while linking her arm around his. But only for Henry to reveal that the photographers now wanted a group shot of the bandmates with their kids. She gave Peter an understanding smile before letting go of his arm and stepping to the side again. This time she chose to witness the incident by herself, though mostly because Victoria seemed to have disappeared off somewhere. Julianna also noticed Nurit made a beeline to the front of the booth where the group was sitting for an up close angle with her own camera. The setting was really cute, and it was great to see the parents and offspring have good relationships with each other. Julianna then felt regret that Peter’s own kids were the only ones missing at the event. Where were they anyway?

“AHHH!” 

Julianna jumped in shock at a scream from behind her, and suddenly felt Victoria’s arms around her in excitement. 

“What happened?” She asked puzzled.

Victoria let go of her, but kept her huge grin to reveal: “Mike’s been nominated for a Grammy! Someone from the Academy just called to tell Harold.”

Julianna stood speechless for a second at the cause of the outburst. “Oh, wow. That’s great!” She said in an effort to sound impressed.

“I know! Best New Age Record,” Victoria continued.

“Oh!…What’s that?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s a new category,” she answered loosely. “But this is so awesome. Platinum records and a nomination in the same day!”

“Ah…yeah.” Julianna then remembered that Mike was usually considered the most successful of the Monkees. The topic hadn’t exactly been brought up between her and Peter, but she did sense that it might be a source of tension. The few times Mike’s career had been mentioned by chance, she noticed him stiffen discreetly. She sometimes wondered if there might have been an unspoken rivalry between the two musicians, but she didn’t want to possibly make it awkward by directly asking Peter if her assumption was true. Especially since his own solo efforts were rather sporadic and reserved compared to his bandmate’s.

“Oh, they’re done with the photos, excuse me,” Victoria quickly uttered before giddily jumping over to embrace Mike, causing him to stop mid-walk in the middle of the press crowd. Julianna saw Peter step past them and make his way to her.

“Hey. What’s got Victoria all excited?” He asked.

“Oh, um,” she considered that Peter might not have the same enthusiasm to Mike’s accolades as Victoria. “Not sure, let’s move over here.” She abruptly grabbed his forearm and moved away from the crowd. She could see Mike and Victoria greet the rest of his family again contently.

“Well, Mike clearly just heard some good news—”

“Peter, uh…” For lack of thinking of a better way to distract him, Julianna rapidly pulled him into a hug. She closed her eyes while taking a deep breath and held him tight.

“Everything alright?” Peter asked a little alarmed, as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Yeah. I’m just…really proud of you,” she replied. 

He looked surprised at the answer, though pleasantly. “Oh?”

“I mean, just with everything this past year. Like the solo record, and your music with James, and letting me move in with you in November—”

“You weren’t exactly a charity case before we met,” he interrupted amused.

“And you’ve been patient with me being self-conscious about the whole trophy wife thing—”

He laughed genuinely at that. “Hilarious label to put on yourself.”

“You know what I mean,” she carried on. “And I’m sorry Hallie and Ivan didn’t come. I think it’s lame they aren’t here.”

There was a small silence at the sudden confession, with Peter looking a combination of flattered and stunned. “It’s hard to get away on a week day—”

“But I have a normal job just like them, and all I did to be here was use one of my sick days,” Julianna countered, now a bit peeved.

There was another moment before Peter asked: “What brought this on?”

It was really supposed to be a spontaneous attempt to distract him from Mike’s announcement, but now she felt like she was also relieving some pent-up apprehension. “I don’t know…I guess just being here and seeing all your bandmates’ kids and the press group—and this,” she pointed in the general direction of the room, “Is seriously amazing. You should be proud about being a part of this…I’m sorry I’ve been so weird this week…”

A wave of emotion suddenly came over her and she pulled him back into another hug. She held him and rested her face into the crook of his neck.

“Aw, Juli…” He embraced back and sighed peacefully. 

“Wow, it usually doesn’t get emotional with this crowd until the bubbly’s passed around at the after-party.”

Peter looked up to see Micky walking by them in jest. Peter could feel Julianna’s breath on his neck when he lifted an arm to playfully wave at Micky to leave them be. The bandmate continued walking with a smirk at Peter’s joshing.

Julianna spent the rest of the event next to Peter in the band’s designated booth with the moment of venting seeming to do the trick of wiping out her current insecurities. She kept a hold of his hand under the table, and Victoria even sat by them. Julianna wasn’t expecting the model to be so chatty with her, but she also figured that it might not be often another woman close to her age was at these kinds of parties. In fact, she noticed Jessica and Davy’s daughters had already jetted out of the building, and Ami and Sam looked like they were getting ready to leave too. Julianna then felt Peter lean over and whisper in her ear: “I think we’re almost done here.”

She turned to him in surprise. “Really? Already?” She looked across the restaurant to find a big clock hanging above the restrooms showing it was almost 3:30 PM. 

He let go of her hand to stretch and then pleasantly placed it across the back of the booth. “Yep. That’s usually how it goes. Praise you, then dump you,” he sardonically tossed.

“Why are we flying back home so late then?”

“Hmm? Oh, we still have to do The Tonight Show.” 

She sat without reaction to his answer.

“…Did I forget to tell you about that?”

She nodded. 

“Oh, well, hope you’re ready for your small screen debut!” He exclaimed while wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“…Seriously?” She asked in disbelief.

“No, I’m kidding,” he revealed in light-hearted tone. “I mean, the rest of the guys and I are going on the show, but you’ll be in the lounge next to the dressing room with Victoria and Anita watching the live recording. That make sense?”

“Yes,” she concurred amused. “Kind of a big thing not to remember to tell me, you know,” she nudged jokingly. 

“Well, clearly I was distracted by your beauty,” he attempted as a not so serious excuse and rested his arm around her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes while holding a lopsided smile. “I don’t think that line’s worked on me since summer.”

“You’re right, maybe it wasn’t the beauty, maybe it was all this—” He palmed a big chunk of curls. “Which in itself is a thing of beauty.”

She lightly grabbed his hand from her hair and set it back down. “Alright, alright. I don’t mind the TV thing, honestly. This whole town’s a big theme park anyway,” she shrugged.

He snorted. “Spoken like someone who’s never lived in LA.” She crinkled her nose playfully at his sarcasm. Right as he scooted closer to her, they heard a sharp whistle and turned their heads to find Mike suddenly near the booth, pointing to them, then pointing to the front entrance before leaving. “I guess that’s our cue,” Peter said before kissing the side of her head and moving to stand up. Julianna grabbed her little backpack and placed it over her shoulders and followed his lead. 

As they walked out of the restaurant, she clasped his hand when she could tell the large group of fans was still outside. She squeezed said hand when he opened the door, and the crowd instantly noticed them. Peter animatedly feigned faux-shock at the fans waiting for them, then gave Julianna an extra squeeze before letting go of her to sign a couple of autographs. She used the moment as an excuse to grab her sunglasses from her bag and place them back on. She also noticed Mike and Micky were on the street signing merchandise as well. Before she could worry about fans possibly getting aggressive and pushing her aside, she felt Peter grab her hand again and rush down the street. After being briefly startled by the abrupt action, she realized they were following Mike to—she assumed—the car picking them up. Only they continued walking around the building farther than she would have thought, and eventually entered a side door back into HRC. 

“…Did we just walk in a circle?” She asked.

“Yes,” Peter verified with a light smile. “The car’s still not here apparently, so we’re just going to wait inside for a few minutes.” 

“Ah, okay.” She casually rested her head on the top of his arm while they leaned against the wall by the kitchen. Victoria slid up next to them and gave Julianna a warm smile while Peter lazily chatted with Davy. 

“Hey, when do you guys think you’ll be back down south?” 

“Oh…not sure, to be honest…” Julianna answered.

“We should meet up again! This was great,” Victoria suggested happily.

Julianna hesitated for a second. She didn’t think she and the lively lady had much in common and was surprised at the latter’s offer. But at the same time, it did feel nice to make a new friend. “Oh, yeah. That would be fun,” she agreed with her own smile.

“Looks like the limo’s finally here,” Peter cut in the conversation with. 

“Vic, you and Jules should jump into the car first,” Mike suddenly intersected while leaning toward the door. “They probably won’t realize who either of you are if you’re not with us and won’t overcrowd the entrance for you.”

“Oh, good idea, Mike!” Victoria agreed before jumping forward to give him a peck and quickly grabbed Julianna’s hand to head outside again. The NorCal native could vaguely see Peter wave as she was directed through the sidewalk into the limousine. When Victoria let go of her hand, Julianna sat near one of the blackened windows to look out and see the group dodge the excited fans as fast as they could. Micky hopped into the vehicle first, then Peter—instantly scooting next to Julianna. Davy and Anita lagged into the car before Mike finally entered and closed the door. Julianna couldn’t say she was completely comfortable with the whole stardom treatment and atmosphere yet, but it certainly wasn’t boring, as was generally the case with Peter’s life.

Late that night back at Peter’s house, the couple were cuddling on the living room couch with the musician kissing her neck, and whispering into her ear. A giggle escaped from her when she softly pushed him aside for some space.

“Okay, okay. You were right. I had fun in Hollywood today,” she confessed light-heartedly and embraced him again. She sighed tranquilly as he held her close. He relieved a breath with a smile and kissed her once more.


End file.
